Nadal To Play Nishikori For Ninth Barcelona Title

One week after completing his ninth title run at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Rafael Nadal will vie for a ninth crown at another happy hunting ground.

The top seeded Spaniard will look to dethrone two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori on Sunday after downing Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-3 in the semis of the Barcelona Open.

Bidding for an unprecedented ninth victory on home soil, he is hoping to lift his first trophy in three years, adding to crowns in 2005-’09 and 2011-’13 at the Real Club Tenis Barcelona-1899.

“Tomorrow I will play against one of the world’s best players and it will be complicated,” said Nadal. “I have to play a great match to win the final.”

Nadal had his entire shotmaking arsenal on display against Kohlschreiber, firing 18 winners and claiming 80 per cent of first serve points. He denied his lone break point faced, while capitalising on three of eight on the German’s serve.

Nadal broke for a 4-2 lead in the first set when a Kohlschreiber forehand clipped the tape and sailed long. The Spaniard continued to apply the pressure in the second, and after failing to convert on three break points in the fifth game, he took his fourth chance for 4-3 and another to seal the victory two games later.

He struck a deep return at Kohlschreiber’s feet and a backhand winner to the open court to emerge victorious on his first match point after one hour and 32 minutes.

The World No. 5 advanced to his 101st tour-level final, where he will look to continue his winning ways against Nishikori. Nadal owns an 8-1 advantage in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry, with their lone final encounter also coming on Spanish soil, in Madrid two years ago.

Should Nadal prevail on Sunday, he would earn a record-tying 49th career clay-court crown, pulling level with Guillermo Vilas.

ATP

Nadal To Play Nishikori For Ninth Barcelona Title

Rafael Nadal Wins Ninth Monte Carlo Masters Title

Rafael Nadal claimed a ninth Monte Carlo Masters title with victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils.

Nadal, who beat Andy Murray in the last four, won 7-5, 5-7, 6-0, his 68th win from 100 finals on the ATP World Tour.

A double fault from Monfils, 29, closed out the first set in Nadal’s favour and the Spaniard recovered from losing the second to see off the 13th seed in two hours 46 minutes.

The 29-year-old has now won clay-court titles in each of the past 13 years.

Nadal won eight consecutive titles before losing the 2013 final to Novak Djokovic and called his first Masters honour since Madrid two years ago “so special”.

“I had a tough season last year, but I’ve had better preparation this year – even with a tough start to the season,” added Nadal, who withdrew from last month’s Miami Open with a virus.

“It’s great to win a Masters title again. I hope this week will help me a lot.”

It is a record-equaling 28th Masters title for Nadal, bringing him alongside top-ranked Djokovic, but a third Masters final defeat for Monfils.

They conceded 34 break points between them with Nadal converting eight of his 21 chances to edge his opponent, who managed five from 13.

Monfils, a runner-up in the Rotterdam Open in February, earned the backing of the Monte Carlo Country Club crowd as he tested Nadal throughout.

But having earlier saved set point, the pressure told on the Frenchman and he double-faulted to hand fifth seed Nadal a close-fought opening set.

The pair traded five breaks of serve in a grueling second, but it was Monfils who edged the former world number one to level.

Nadal then took control of the decider and raced into a 5-0 lead before landing a forehand winner at match point to win for the ninth time in Monte Carlo as he builds to next month’s French Open, which he will be seeking to win for a 10th time.

Credit: BBC

Rafael Nadal Wins Ninth Monte Carlo Masters Title

Ninth Person Arrested Over Paris Attacks

Brussels police have arrested a man in connection with the Nov. 13 militant attacks in Paris which killed 130 people, federal prosecutors said on Thursday, bringing the total number of arrests in Belgium to nine.

 

 

The man was arrested earlier this week but prosecutors kept it quiet in order not to alert potential accomplices, a spokesman for federal prosecutors said. More details will be released later on Thursday, he said.

 

 

Belgian newspaper DH reported that the man arrested had been contacted by Hasna Ait Boulahcen, who gave shelter to the presumed ringleader of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. Boulahcen and Abaaoud were both killed in a police raid days after the attacks.

 

Ninth Person Arrested Over Paris Attacks